Fault
by SummerRaeBenson
Summary: My take on what Fault should have been like. What happened after Elliot said she was all he had besides the job? ONE SHOT!


**Please review!**

Olivia sat down on the bench next to Elliot, glad that this case was finally over. "Look, I know that if that sniper didn't beat you to it... I know you would've taken that shot." He barely whispered.

Olivia's brain went into shock. She looked at him. "No, I wouldn't have. Do you really expect me to be the cause of your death?" She asked looked at him and then back to the floor in front of her. "What about your kids?" He just shrugged slightly. She shook her head slightly. "What about me?"

He paused. "Look, all I know is that we chose each other over our jobs. We can't let it happen again... otherwise we can't be partners anymore."

Her eyes went wide. "I can't believe you're saying that."

He looked ahead of him and was trying not to let his emotions show. "You and this job are the only things I've got anymore... I don't want to wreck that." He stood up from the bench quickly and walked down the hallway leaving a shocked Olivia.

Olivia stepped into her apartment later physically and mentally spent. She threw her jacket on the counter along with her keys and phone. She went into her bathroom and started her bath. She really just wanted to forget her day, but something kept repeating in her head. _You and this job are the only things I've got anymore... I don't want to wreck that._ She closed her eyes to fight back the threatening tears. She couldn't shake those words from her mind. The seemed to tattoo themselves into her memory. Every time she heard it, her heart broke just a little more. He broke their unspoken rule. Never, ever, express your feelings. It seemed that whenever they did, it turned into a pissing match to see who could hurt the other more. Well, she wasn't going to fight this anymore. She told Cragen she wanted a new partner. She had tomorrow off. Olivia stepped into her bathtub and let herself get lost.

The next morning, she woke to her buzzing phone. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. _Elliot._ She opened her phone to hit ignore. Fifteen new text messages and three missed calls. She thought about calling him back, but... it was her day off. According to him, they weren't supposed to chose each other over the job. He was doing that right now when he chose to check up on her instead of doing his paperwork. She quickly sent him a text. _Do your paperwork El! Don't chose me over the job._ She hit send and knew she'd regret it, but he deserved it. She got up and decided to go for a run.

As she ran, her phone kept buzzing, letting her know that Elliot was still trying to get a hold of her. She gave up on her run and walked into the nearest coffee shop. After ordering, she sat down and found that Elliot had sent her thirteen more texts and tried calling her once. Olivia heaved out a breath and turned off her phone. She was not going to let him get to her. After finishing off her coffee, she ran back to her apartment. When she got on to her floor, she pulled out her gun. Her door was wide open with a broken hinge. She peered around the corner and relaxed when she saw who it was. "Elliot, what the hell did you do to my door?"

"You weren't answering it." Elliot said innocently.

"Did you ever think that I might not be home?" Olivia shouted. She inspected her door. "I gave you a key."

Elliot paused. "Yeah, uh... it fell out of my pocket and was flushed down my toilet so... yeah, that wouldn't have worked." He stepped towards her, but backed up again was she looked at him with daggers. "Why didn't you answer my calls or texts?"

"I took the day off." Olivia shot at him. "I needed a break. You probably know it as a time-out." She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're paying for this."

"Yeah, I figured that." Elliot said scratching his jaw. "That doesn't excuse you for ignoring me. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I come in and Cragen just says your not coming in. He doesn't tell me why, and when you don't answer... you have no idea."

Olivia's jaw dropped. "Don't even, Elliot. You said we can't chose each other over the job. I just needed a day to myself, okay? I can't take this anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Elliot asked stepping towards her. "Liv, I'm sorry I blamed you for my choice-"

"I asked for a new partner." Olivia interrupted him. His mouth closed instantly and his eyes seemed to cut through her. "Don't look at me like that. You know that I never could have taken that shot! I wouldn't change anything. No matter what you wouldn't done when Gitano cut me, you would've beaten yourself up for it. If you went after Gitano and it turned out I wasn't okay, you would be beating yourself up for not checking on me. Maybe you wouldn't, I guess I shouldn't assume. But Elliot, I would rather die than be the cause of your death. No matter what the cost, I would chose you."

"I KNOW THAT! And don't act like that, you know that I could never let it go if you got hurt and it was my fault. Liv, I don't want a new partner. I want you!" Elliot shouted.

Olivia shook her head. She could not believe him. "Elliot, I want you as a partner too! But, I can't have you blaming me every time you think you made a mistake. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I can do my job! You just refuse to accept the fact that you make mistakes with yours!" She yelled. Olivia felt tears burning the back of her eyes, but she willed them to stay back. "We need change. If I stay your partner, we're going to despise each other at some point. I don't want that. I couldn't take it. You may think it's just you, but you and this job is the only things I've got anymore too. But, I'd rather have you than a job that tore us apart!"

"HEY SHUT UP OVER THERE! I GOT A KID THAT'S TRYING TO SLEEP!" One of Olivia's neighbors yelled.

Olivia growled and went out into the hallway. "How about making him go to school for once? We'll talk then." She slammed her door shut only for it to swing back open. She muttered something at door and turned back to Elliot.

"I don't want the job to tear us apart either!" Elliot shouted. "But Liv, I could never despise you. Look, I'm sorry that I blamed you. I can't just let you walk away from our partnership."

"It's not like I want to!" Olivia shouted. "There's a lot of things I want. Nobody gets everything they want. Except maybe you, you get a family."

"Yeah, I'm glad I have my kids. But, I still want things. I don't have everything I want." Elliot growled.

"Oh yeah, your wife is divorcing you because you shut her out." Olivia said rolling her eyes. She knew she was pushing his buttons, but screw him! "I get it's hard for you, but at least you had someone."

"Yeah, I got her pregnant in high school, so I had to marry her. That's what every guy dreams about. That's not what I wanted. It's still not what I want." Elliot yelled.

Olivia rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen. Elliot followed her. "What could you possibly want that you don't already have?" She asked as she leaned against her counter.

Elliot glared at her. "What do you want?"

"I asked first." Olivia said.

"Ladies got first." Elliot said gesturing to her.

"Exactly why you should go first." Olivia smirked.

Elliot's jaw dropped. "Did you just call me a woman?"

"Nope." Olivia grinned. "Ladies go first. Now, I did." She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as his eyes turned dangerous. "What do you want?"

Elliot glared at her a moment. He walked up to her in two short strides. Before she knew it, he had cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her. She immediatly fell into it and cupped the back of his head with her hands. He picked her up and sat her on the counter. His arms wrapped around her torso. They didn't break the kiss until air became neccesary. He dropped his forehead to hers as their breathing evened out. "What do you want?"

Olivia opened her eyes to look into his blue ones. "You." He leaned into to kiss her. Olivia leaned back. "But, you have to fix my door first."

Elliot whimpered and dropped his head to her shoulder. Olivia chuckled lightly and rubbed his back as she rested her head against his. "I've waited seven years to do that, and you're making me wait longer."

"Hey, if you get my door fixed, we'll have more privacy. I'd rather do what I want in the privacy of my apartment... when you're divorced." Olivia smiled lightly. Elliot looked up at her with a puppy dog face. "No, Elliot."

"Please!" Elliot whimpered. "I'm be good; I promise."

Olivia laughed and cupped his face. "Fix my door."

"Do you know how long Kathy could drag this out? It could take forever. I've waited seven years! Liv, seven years!" Elliot whined.

"So have I." Olivia retorted. "But, for you, I'll wait another seven years if that's what it takes. I'd rather not wait that long, but I will for you."

"Seven years?" Elliot asked. "If it takes that long, we're going to have to cut off kissing. That one kiss is teasing the crap out of me."

Olivia laughed while nodding. "Okay. We'll see what you say when you take me out for dinner tonight."

"I am?" Elliot asked.

"Oh yes. If we can't have make up sex, you can take me out for dinner." Olivia smirked and hopped off her counter. "Don't you have work today?"

"I took the day off so I could see that you were alright." Elliot said watching her walk into her room. "So, how am I going to fix your door? I don't have the first clue since I broke the hinge clean off."

Olivia came out a moment later in shorts and a cami. "I can call Marcus. He'll come up and do it. He fixed my sink; he can fix my door." She said grabbing her phone. As it rang she looked at Elliot. "What are you staring at?"

Elliot's jaw was wide open. "I-I never h-have seen y-you in that. It's n-n-nice."

Olivia chuckled. "Hey Marcus... yeah, I'm good. How are you?... Good for you. I have a favor to ask you... Uh, my partner just knocked down my door... No, no, I'm fine. He just thought something was wrong and apparently lost his key in the toilet." She threw her head back in laughter. "Yeah, I know. Would you mind coming up to fix it?... Thanks, bye." She looked back at Elliot and smiled. "Problem solved. Now, I haven't had breakfast."

"That's because you have no food in your fridge." Elliot smirked.

Olivia opened her fridge door and grinned. "You don't know what's in my fridge Stabler." She leaned down and grabbed what she was looking for. "Do you want anything?"

"I want my divorce to be done with." Elliot whined like a little boy. "Do you have any bacon?"

"Yeah." Olivia said handing him a plate. "Just heat it up for twenty seconds. You should be good."

Elliot slid the plate into her microwave and turned to her. "Who's this Marcus guy?"

"He's my old doorman. He's now the manager. Marcus takes care of some of the probelms attendants have." Olivia shrugged.

Just then, Marcus walked in. Elliot relaxed about the guy right away. He was about six inches shorter than Olivia. He was lean with a shaved head. He was probably thirty-six at the most. "Hey Olivia, I can see what you mean by a door problem."

Olivia chuckled. "Yeah, I don't think you've met." She said letting Marcus in. "This is my partner, Elliot Stabler."

"Hey man! Finally nice to meet you. I can never get this one to shut up about you." Marcus chuckled gesturing to Olivia.

Elliot smiled. "Well, I guess I'm just more popular than I thought. Sorry about the door. I was just worried about her."

"Don't sweat it. Hey, I worry about her too." Marcus grinned turning to the door. "So, how long have you two been partners?"

"Seven years." Elliot said without hesitation. He grabbed the bacon from the microwave and stuffed one into his mouth.

"Wow, that's a long time." Marcus said from his crouching position. "Man, this door didn't stand a chance. Dude, what do you bench? You have to be at least one eighty."

Olivia slid up onto her counter and looked over at Elliot. Elliot kissed her nose. "I don't really know. I just bench whatever is in the room." Olivia rolled her eyes. "What was that for?"

"Oh nothing. I just think that your ego has gotten a little a head of itself. You can bench a lot, but..." Olivia smiled shaking her head.

Marcus shook his head chuckling. "Olivia, you didn't tell me you were dating your partner. I thought we were friends."

Olivia laughed. "Well, we're technically not dating yet. I said nothing can happen until after his divorce is final."

"Ah, good plan." Marcus nodded. He looked up at Elliot and then looked at Olivia. He smiled at Elliot. "Man, you're screwed."

"Tell me about it. One kiss and I'm already in trouble." Elliot said with a bacon filled mouth.

Marcus laughed. "I know what you mean. My wife leaves me wanting more constantly." He looked up at them. "Do you have wood glue?"

"Wood glue?" Olivia asked with raised eyebrows.

"I guess you don't." Marcus smiled. "I'll go down to the office and get some. It should take me about twenty minutes to fix this."

"Okay, thanks Marcus." Olivia smiled. Marcus nodded and left.

Elliot set down the plate and started stretching. "Okay, so I have roughly a half an hour to get this divorce finalized."

Olivia chuckled. "Elliot, you cannot have your divorced finalized that quickly. I thought you said it wouldn't be officially over for a few more months. We can wait that long."

"But Liv!" Elliot whined.

"But El!" Olivia mocked him. "I would love to make out with you to the point where I feel like my lungs might explode, but... I'm not going to be the other woman."

"And I wouldn't want you to. I just... we've waited so long. I almost lost you and I never got to tell you." Elliot said looking down at her hands. He skimmed his thumb lightly over the scar on her neck. "I hate him for what he almost did to you."

"I hate him too. He held a gun to your head." Olivia whispered. She stroked the side of his face with her palm. "We can go to dinner. If we want, we can make out. But, nothing more until that divorce is final."

Elliot smiled and kissed her hard. "Deal." He kissed her again until he absolutly needed oxygen. He whimpered against her shoulder. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

Olivia chuckled. "Well, how about you go figure out where you're taking me for dinner tonight? I'll go pick out what I'm going to wear. Then, you can call me, pick me up, and take me out. You're first date with Olivia Benson. You're one of very few willing to date a special victims detective."

"Well, you're hot so you've got that on your side." Elliot smirked. "Okay, I'll go make reservations... somewhere." He kissed her forehead. "I'll call you later, Liv." Later that day, Elliot walked up to Olivia's door at six thirty. He took a deep breath and knocked on her door. He heard her foot steps and smiled. He straightened his jacket. Olivia opened the door and smiled when Elliot's jaw dropped. Elliot stared at his partner. She was in a mid thigh, off the shoulder red dress. "Wow!"

Olivia smiled. "Wow yourself." She looked at his blue suit with a red tie. She gave him a quick peck before locking her door. "Where are we going?"

Elliot stared at her a moment longer. "Uh, I'm sorry. I literally just threw everything out of my mind to remember you in this dress." Olivia laughed and leaned into him. "You're going to be the death of me."

The next couple of months past, Elliot and Olivia were counting the days until his divorce would be finalized. Two weeks before that day, Elliot took Olivia down to meet his mother. Bernie fell in love with Olivia right away. Before Elliot could tell her that they were dating, she asked if they were planning on having kids. Elliot had slapped his hand over his face when Olivia started laughing saying that she would love to have kids someday. Dinner went over okay. Elliot's brother kept asking Olivia questions that just popped into his head. The first one that came to his head was 'how's my little brother in the bedroom?' Olivia almost choked on her chicken. Elliot kicked his brother from under the table, but he kept on asking away. After dinner, Elliot grabbed Olivia's hand and took her for a walk along the beach. "Elliot, it wasn't that bad." Olivia chuckled. "Look, I'm just going to have to learn to deal with the fact that your mother like you to be happy and your brother likes to get personal."

Elliot smiled and kissed her cheek. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"It's you. What's there to worry about?" Olivia asked simply and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"Good, because I have something for you." Elliot smiled. He took out a thin long box and handed it to her.

Olivia's brow furrowed. "What'd you get me?"

"Just open it." Elliot smiled.

Olivia opened it and was further confused when she found a paper inside. She unfolded it and gasped. "Oh my God!"

Elliot smiled. "It's the last page to my divorce settlement. Both signed. I'm officially divorced." He smiled when she jumped into his arms and tucked her legs against his side. He held onto her and kissed her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Olivia grinned as she got down.

"That's not all." Elliot grinned. Olivia looked back into the box and gasped. "Marry me?"

Olivia grinned and kissed him hard. "Yes, a million times yes."

**Please reveiw! I cry whenever I watch this episode.**


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